Meatless Monday: Make Anderson Cooper’s Favorite Veggie Burger

In March, the Anderson Cooper 360° anchor called himself a “total McDonald’s person” on former talk show Anderson Live—while wearing a shirt screen-printed with French fries. He also once toldUSA Today that his guilty pleasure is Boston Market, and has tweeted about his love of Big Macs.

But the trim star also knows to mix in healthier fare: He is frequently spotted at New York City’s Bareburger ordering the black bean burger, a vegetarian patty cooked in good-for-you grape seed oil (it’s rich with healthy fats) and tucked between a multigrain bun.

With cheese, onions, corn, peppers, cumin, garlic and chili powder mixed into the patty, this burger is a lot more flavorful than anything you’ll get in a drive-through.

2. In a large pot, place beans in just enough water to cover 1-inch above the surface of the beans. Boil over high heat until tender. Cool beans and chop roughly.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine next 14 ingredients (vegan cheese through sea salt), mixing until all ingredients are evenly distributed. (You can also use a food processor.) Form mixture into 6 patties.

4. In a large skillet coated with grape seed oil, fry the patties over medium-high heat until crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.

Jodi’s right, just chopping the beans like the recipe states wouldn’t help the patties come together. I think you should put 1/2-3/4 of the cooked beans into a food processor by themselves and blend first. Then you can add that sort of smashed mixture to all your other ingredients you’ve prepped along w/ the remaining beans, and they will stick together that way.